Nunchucks and Flamethrowers by the Riverside: Chatting with Brian Regan

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Photo via facebook.com/BrianReganComedian

It’s rare for Netflix to order not just one, but two standup specials from a comic, and the zany yet relatable Brian Regan recently joined the select group that includes Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock. Before his set at the Riverside Theater on Saturday, Dec. 2, fans can get a hysterical dose of Regan from his first Netflix venture, Nunchucks and Flamethrowers.

Talking with Regan confirms that his outbursts of sublime silliness are as plentiful as his insightful musings. He spoke about a formula for comedy, his obsession with language, his response to being termed “clean” and “family friendly,” and for bonus points, Regan even said a swear word that rhymes with ducking.

The way you see things, does life oftentimes strike you as very funny right away, or do you need to reflect on it for a while to make life seem so funny?

Well, they say a formula for comedy is “comedy equals tragedy plus time.” The philosophy is that something strange or awkward happens, and then after some time passes, you can look back and reflect on it and go, “Wow, that was funny.” So that’s a formula, but I don’t think you always need the time component. It can work both ways. Sometimes something is funny as it’s happening, and sometimes things are funny later. Sometimes when there’s a difficult situation, it’s hard to laugh at the time. I have a routine about going to the emergency room [Laughs]. I wasn’t laughing while I was in agony.

Having done standup in so many different places, what are some of the things that make Milwaukee distinct?

Milwaukee is, by far, the best city on Earth. This interview is coming from Milwaukee, correct?

[Laughs] That is correct.

I like the city. It seems very earthy and real. I don’t have specific thoughts on it, but all I know is that it’s my favorite place on Earth.

Well said. Is it true you were on a path to becoming an accountant before you tried standup?

Yes. My dad was an accountant. I went to college thinking I was going to be an accountant, just because you have to pick something your freshman year, so I picked that. And after a couple accounting classes, my eyes would roll so far into the back of my head, and I remember thinking, “Can I do a lifetime of this?” I started to question my choice. I played football in college, and I talked to my head coach, and he recommended I switch to the Communication and Theater Arts major since I was the funny guy on the team. And that’s what I did.

Do you get a lot of surprised reactions after telling people you once aspired to be an accountant? It’s not one of the first jobs I would guess.

It’s not the first job I would guess, like when I look in the mirror. But when I was young, I didn’t know what else to do. I had taken a college-level accounting class when I was in high school, and I got an A. And I don’t think I ever had an A before in anything. So, I thought, “This A equals my future.”

Instead of the term “clean,” why don’t more people describe your style as “widely accessible”? Is that just too many syllables?

Maybe. That would take up a lot of syllables on a billboard. But I would still prefer it. They tried “family friendly” too, and I cringe at that. I cringe at “clean.” I kind of cringe at all descriptions because they all seem incomplete. It’s sort of like trying to describe a painting. I’ve always marveled when you grab a Time magazine and some writer is trying to describe an artist’s painting. That’s got to be the hardest job in the world, and I feel that way about comedy. It’s hard to wrap your arms around it and go, “Well, this comedy is this.”

And it seems like the artists are never the ones in charge of terming the thing that they do, which hardly seems fair.

Yes. Well, the “clean” thing is something where—my manager knows, my publicist knows, we try to put the kibosh on it from our perspective. But it’s important to other people. I’m happy whenever somebody likes my comedy and whatever they enjoy about it, fine, but the clean part is not as important to me as it is to some other people.

Is it weird to be considered almost like a rebel because in your line of work, you don’t swear?

It is weird. Because it’s come full circle. When I first started in comedy—and I’ve been doing it a long time—the majority of comedians were on the clean side of the tracks. And then you had your handful of people that were off-roading in the dirty world. And now, it’s flipped, to the point where most people say that anything and everything is fair game on stage—and I agree with that. But there’s also the choice of working clean. That’s fair too. I’m allowed to make that choice. That’s part of free speech. Free speech means I can choose to use the f-word, but I can also choose to not use the f-word. That’s why it kind of bothered me that HBO used to tout that their comedy is uncensored. And I used to think, “You are censoring it. You’re censoring clean comedians.” And I always found that ironic.

The way I look at, just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you always have to watch R-rated movies, right? And that’s what I love about your standup. Is it a challenge to cast such a wide net for people to get into your work?

No. It’s what I want to do. I never put the audience first because, to me, it’s hard to figure out what an audience wants. What I try to do is tell you what I want to tell you. And if you like it, great! And what I say as a comedian tends to be quirky and goofy. It’s what makes me laugh. And the fact that, when it’s all over and done, there are people out there who also like the fact that it’s clean, that’s fine. But I also like that people like the fact that it’s funny. It’s a double-edged sword in my career.

One of my favorite bits that you do is your breakdown of the word “manslaughter.” Does language fascinate you?

Yes. Words always fascinated George Carlin too, who might be the best standup who ever lived. I’m not trying to put myself in his company, but words are interesting. A joke might zero in on a word like “manslaughter,” but in addition to that, once the joke is working, I try to find peculiar words to serve the joke. “What’s a better word for this? What’s a better word for that?” It’s still the joke that I thought of originally, but I’m trying to find obscure words that are interesting to hear but also conjure up something just a little bit different than the blander word.

You’re always trying to challenge yourself.

I’m being very scientific in my answers [Laughs].

No, it’s great, Brian! Inside the mind of a great comic—that’s what we’re looking for. Now, outside of standup, can you tell us about Loudermilk on the Audience Network?

Well, I don’t do a lot of acting. The acting I did prior to Loudermilk was a short scene in a movie called Top Five. So, my entire acting career prior to Loudermilk was about two minutes.

Well, that’s more than me! That’s more than some guy.

That’s true. Then Peter Farrelly of the Farrelly Brothers saw me perform and asked if I wanted to be on this show that he was helping to create, and I said, “Well, yeah, that’d be cool.” Next thing I knew, I was in it. It’s a ten-episode series, and it’s weird that the show is not clean at all. My career is the exact opposite of so many other people. So many comedians do voices in Disney cartoons. I work completely clean on stage, and then I take filthy acting roles.

Wasn’t Carlin on a kids-show later in his career? Thomas the Choo Choo Train or something?

That’s exactly right.

You’re the opposite of that.

Right. I’m on Thomas the Fucking Choo Choo Train.

Wow! Brian Regan swears. Incredible.

That’s the first time I’ve cursed in my life.

Well, I’m glad I could be a part of it. Now, I wanted to ask: After thousands of hours of creating new comic material, do you ever feel like you might run out, or does it feel like an endless supply?

There were times in my career, years ago, when you come upon a dry spot, and you go, “I don’t feel like I’m coming up with much.” And then you turn the corner, figuratively, and boom, your brain starts going berserk, and you start coming up with a bunch of stuff. And that’s happened to me enough times where I don’t worry about it anymore if I’m hitting a dry period. That just means stuff is damming up. So far in my life and in my career, everything has worked out in terms of new material, and I hope that continues.

Can you tell us about your special” Nunchucks and Flamethrowers” on Netflix?

I’m not good at marketing myself. This special, I’m hoping, will be regarded as one of the most adequate specials in the history of comedy. If someone were to watch this special, I can almost guarantee there would be at least a moment in the show where someone might smile a little bit.

You can almost guarantee that?

I can almost guarantee that. Just short of actually guaranteeing it.

Well, people who know how funny you are will watch it regardless of any kind of hype you could do. But it was adequate hype. Totally adequate.

Yeah. There might be someone out there that goes, “I like to maybe smile.”